This will blow your mind!

[mr.vang]

i made one in class today. pretty neat i say

 

[Garbz]

Plain out nuts. In a good way. It gives me an idea. I'm more into electronics now and may try to cram the FF of an older 5D MKII into a smaller rangefinder size case. Similar to the Leica M9. I want to do away with the mirror and prism and use it in live-view similar to the new mirror-less systems. I will probably lose AF though in the process. Hmmm...there are a few details that need to be hashed out still.

Sounds like a fun project. Who needs AF anyway. The bigger problem you'll have is how do you get the camera to power up in the absence of critical electronics. Pull out the AF unit, or maybe set up the AF unit in a way which doesn't work and you may get an Err99 out of your camera.

Sorry, this did not blow my mind!

Some people are sooo hard to please. This one's for you cloudwalker
I know lots of people with the tools knowledge and even the parts to make something like this, myself included, but none of us have the gonads for it

 

[ironsidephoto]

Fascinating.

 

[Foxie]

Wow! Well., I'll be... What a skillful guy! And he must have had a lot of time on his hands. He most certainly did not build this camera because he couldn't afford to buy one!

 

[benhasajeep52 50]

Wish I had the time to tinker like that. I have so many hobbies going, don't know which way to turn when I do get thime to relax. That is pretty cool though. :thumbup:

 

[Garbz]

Wish I had the time to tinker like that. I have so many hobbies going, don't know which way to turn when I do get thime to relax. That is pretty cool though. :thumbup:

Tell me about it. I've been building some power amps for a good 2 years now :S

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Some people are sooo hard to please. This one's for you cloudwalker YouTube - Tesla Guitar Iron Man.mp4

I know lots of people with the tools knowledge and even the parts to make something like this, myself included, but none of us have the gonads for it

Yeah! Saw those guys on America's Got Talent. It was cool the first couple times but I can't imagine watching a whole show of this, lol.


Not having the gonads or the desire to spend the time doing this is why I was not impressed. Impressive guy, yes. But not the project. What is the point of a film camera from the 50s when in the age of digital. If you really want film, you can pick up a camera for a few dollars.

I'm not even sure why he wanted to see if he could do it. After all that is how the first cameras were made. And I mean the first of each generation. It would have been way more impressive if he had created something useful for today.

 

[Green Li]

may be not exactly mind blowing, but pretty awesome! :thumbup:

 

[pgriz]

<snip> I'm not even sure why he wanted to see if he could do it. <snip>

Sometimes the journey is point of the exercise, not the destination...

 

[Garbz]

It would have been way more impressive if he had created something useful for today.

The camera works. The camera has retro chic. Above all he made this with his hands. Personally I see two kinds of people in the world. The practical like you with the attitude of why build something when I can buy it for half the cost, and the tinkerers. I fall into the latter category.

We build things, often useless things because we can and we get a kick out of making something work, out of creating something with our own hands. A few years ago I built a clock out of a spinning harddisk platter with a slit cut in it, and a light which pulses at exactly the right time. http://www.garbz.com/hddclock.jpg The clock is pointless. It's noisy. I've never used it, but it is in my cupboard of absolutely awesome stuff I have made with my hands.

On top of that while building it I learnt a whole new world of things. Such as how to write a program to communicate between two chips using the SPI protocol, how to accurately use hall effect sensors for timing, and the principles of persistence of vision.

Next up? I'm building an alarm clock using 1960s era Nixie tubes as the display. This is to replace the $10 alarm on my bedside table. So far I have spent over $150 in components.

I do this because I like the challenge, and get a kick out of building things. He's probably the same. Also on your earlier comment of buying tools and knowing how to use them, there's a very big difference between knowing how to use a lathe and knowing how to calculate how many teeth a complete train of gears need in order to accurately advance film. At work we have a workshop full of people who can do anything with metal. They've been overhauling pumps all their lives, but most of them wouldn't have a clue what a pump curve or head pressure is. There's a world of difference between designing something and building something.

 

[pgriz]

If the result, at the lowest cost, was all that mattered, then no-one would bring their expensive photographic gear on vacation, and postcard sales would shoot through the roof. But... we still take pictures. It's a lot easier to buy a bottle of wine, than try to make your own. But people still do it. And to actually conceive something and then being it into being - that's a whole other kettle of fish. I'm with Garbz on this - until you're had the pleasure of being the designer/creator, you just don't know what you're missing.

 

[Hardrock]

It would have been way more impressive if he had created something useful for today.

I do this because I like the challenge, and get a kick out of building things. He's probably the same. Also on your earlier comment of buying tools and knowing how to use them, there's a very big difference between knowing how to use a lathe and knowing how to calculate how many teeth a complete train of gears need in order to accurately advance film. At work we have a workshop full of people who can do anything with metal. They've been overhauling pumps all their lives, but most of them wouldn't have a clue what a pump curve or head pressure is. There's a world of difference between designing something and building something.

I agree totally! Yes he somewhat copied a camera from a different era but he made all of the parts but one and didnt copy another design , he made it his own. Very very unique and impressive. Ive made many things but none as intricate as this one. Im still very impressed.